Team Canada won six more medals on Saturday at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. They won two gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals. The gold medalists were Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ontario in the men’s 800 metre wheelchair racing in the T34 classification, and Danielle Dorris of Fredericton, New Brunswick in the women’s 50 metre butterfly S7 classification. The silver medalists were Nathan Riech of Victoria, British Columbia in the men’s 1500 metres T38, and Brianna Hennessy of Ottawa, Ontario in the women’s paracanoeing with a VL2 classification. The bronze medals came in women’s sitting volleyball, and swimming, as Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan placed third in the women’s 100 metre backstroke with a s6 classification.
Smeenk, who suffers from hereditary spastic paraplegia, had a winning time of 1:39.27. Chaiwat Rattana of Thailand won the silver medal with a time of 1:39.48. Rheed McCracken of Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 1:40.13. Smeenk earned the medal by 0.87 seconds. Yang Wang of China finished fourth with a time of 1:40.14. This was Smeenk’s second Paralympic medal. He won bronze in the men’s 100 metres on September 2.
Dorris, who suffers from bilateral radial dysplasia (underdeveloped arms) had a winning time of 33.62 seconds. Mallory Weggemann of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 34.94 seconds. Giulia Terzi of Italy won the bronze medal with a time of 35.40 seconds. Dorris reached the podium by 2.76 seconds over fellow Canadian Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ontario who had a fourth place time of 36.38 seconds. Dorris previously won gold in the women’s 50 metre butterfly and silver in the women’s 100 metre backstroke at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Riech, who was partially paralyzed after being hit in the back of the head with a golf ball at age 10, had a second place time of 4:13.12. Amen Allah Tissaoui of Tunisia won the gold medal with a time of 4:12.91. Reece Langdon of Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 4:13.13. Riech earned a medal by 1.02 seconds. Angus Hincksman of Australia finished in fourth place with a time of 4:14.14. Riech previously won gold in the men’s 1500 metres a the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
Hennessy, who became a tetraplegic after being hit by a cab in Toronto, Ontario at the age of 14, had a time of 1:00.12. Emma Wiggs of Great Britain won the gold medal with a time of 58.88 seconds. Susan Seipel of Australia won the bronze medal with a time of 1:01.39. Hennessy reached the podium by 2.29 seconds over Jeannette Chippington of Great Britain, who had a time of 1:02.41.
Newkirk, who suffers from dystonia (cramping right foot), had a time of 1:22.24. Yuyan Jiang of China won the gold medal with a time of 1:19.44. Ellie Marks of the United States won the silver medal with a time of 1:20.34. Newark reached the podium by 3.48 seconds over Anna Hontar of Ukraine, who had a time of 1:25.72.
In women’s sitting volleyball, Canada beat Brazil in the bronze medal game 25-15, 25-18, 25-18. The United States won the gold medal and China won the silver medal. Canada finished in second place in Pool B with a record of two wins and one loss. They beat Slovenia 25-11, 25-21, 25-12, and Rwanda 25-14, 25-17, 25-13.
Also on Saturday, Hennessy and swimmer Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, British Columbia, were named flag bearers for the closing ceremonies. Bennett, who has autism, won gold in the men’s 100 metre breaststroke and 200 metre individual medley, and silver in the men’s 200 metre butterfly.
Canada finished with 29 medals (10 gold medals, nine silver medals and 10 bronze medals). They were in 16th place in the overall medal count. China placed first with 220 medals.
